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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 101
2.
Dune Wild Trail.
It was always a crowded place, but this time, the number of people was truly beyond description.
Could a sea made of people look like this?
They surged forward like waves.
The vast plains, filled with countless people, bustled as they gathered in groups of like-minded individuals.
Grouped by guilds, or by parties, some were even shouting loudly to recruit new people.
Faced with a scene reminiscent of a bustling marketplace, people reacted as if it were nothing new.
While Dune Wild Trail always had this aspect, the players who had made it this far were clearly past the beginner stage.
This kind of hustle and bustle was now practically routine for them.
‘There are so many people.’
Seonghyun, too, was quite astonished.
The sight of countless people united for a single purpose, forming a massive group, was truly something to behold.
It was the first time since starting the game that he had seen people on such a scale.
It gave him a unique feeling.
To think that all these people were here to participate in a large-scale event.
He keenly felt just how significant his own main quest was.
Then, he checked the main quest details he had looked at yesterday once more.
『Doom Knight's Invasion』
→《Main》
→『Overlord』 Main Quest
→After the death of the past Overlord, some of her numerous subordinates struggled and were lost in their grief.
Concerned for her struggling subordinates, the Overlord's disciple gathered some of them and established the Over Palace.
However, many others were left behind.
Some avoided reality, some departed from the world in sorrow, and some were driven mad by grief.
The Doom Knight was also one of the latter.
One who lost himself, driven mad by sorrow.
Because of this, he embarked on a conquest of vast regions.
Dune Wild Trail was one such place.
The conquest by the undead Doom Knight was brutal, leaving not even a single living creature behind, only bare rocks, thus creating this vast wasteland.
Even after burning and destroying all surrounding towns and cities, his sorrow could not be healed.
When there was nothing left to destroy, he destroyed even his own soul and fell into a quiet slumber alongside his soldiers.
However, after a long time passed, the power of a former comrade was sensed nearby.
Reacting to the power of the Dark Fortress, Nocturnium, the terrible grief that had been buried was awakened.
And upon realizing that there were living beings left to destroy on this land once more, he led his greatly diminished soldiers and reappeared in Dune Wild Trail.
However, unlike before, his soul had been destroyed, and he had lost his reason.
Stop the greatly weakened Doom Knight and defeat him to finally lay him to rest.
→Overlord Exclusive Main Quest.
→Reward: Overlord exclusive skill, 『Order of Ruin』, ability to appoint the Remnants of the Doom Knight as an additional Death Legion Commander.
→Failure: Main Quest lost, Doom Knight lost, Overlord exclusive skill 『Order of Ruin』 lost.
‘It's incredible, even when looking at it again.’
Seonghyun mused, though his purpose was different from the others.
‘For now, perhaps I should see about joining the others.’
Looking around amidst that countless crowd, he could see various guilds setting up their own formations in what could be called the very front lines.
Flags displaying each guild's crest were set up everywhere, fluttering majestically in the west wind, proudly revealing their emblems.
Among them was a crest familiar to Seonghyun.
‘Wasn't that Sick Brothers?’
One of the few guild crests he knew besides the Rapid Guild.
He knew it because he had received a scouting offer from them before.
Seeing it here like this felt unexpectedly pleasant.
Not that he was going to go over and act familiar.
But wasn't it always nice to run into something you know?
Seonghyun watched the guild area like that for a moment before turning his head away.
‘The Rapid Guild said they weren't participating separately, right?’
While they were closer to a small elite guild, it wasn't that they lacked the capacity.
So why didn't they bother participating?
Simple.
Because aside from Seonghyun, there was no one else who could participate anyway.
‘I heard Luna's side hasn't reached the required level yet.’
It couldn't be helped.
Even Luna's team, supposedly the highest level among the rookie teams, was apparently still only in the level 70s.
Considering they were in the 60s when Seonghyun met them a few days ago, they were progressing quite fast.
But because Seonghyun had surged ahead at a monstrous pace, the gap simply couldn't be closed.
That's why Rapid had completely given up on dispatching anyone at all.
After getting Seonghyun's permission, of course.
‘Yoojin-noona sure seems to be going through a lot.’
His head throbbed recalling her arguing with Yoo Mina over the phone.
Anyway, for that reason, the Rapid Guild didn't dispatch anyone.
They only decided not to dispatch members; they had agreed to provide full support for what would happen later.
Besides, during yesterday's call, he had also managed to secure additional contract terms.
An additional signing bonus and a salary increase.
Above all, his share of the viewing ticket revenue went up.
From the previous 10% to 30%.
Terms absolutely never given to a rookie like Seonghyun.
It was just one level below the terms of Yoo Mina, one of the current top single rankers.
He could feel just how high the Rapid Guild's expectations for him were.
After that, they also discussed how he would approach this major event.
And he got something more interesting out of it than expected.
‘Anyway, I should probably just stick around the edges.’
Getting unnecessarily involved with the guilds might just interfere with what Seonghyun and the Rapid Guild planned to do later.
Just as Seonghyun was about to step back like that, someone nearby who had been watching Seonghyun spoke to him.
Did they recognize Seonghyun?
“Hey, you there, buddy. You don't have a guild?”
Apparently not.
“Hmmm?”
The middle-aged man said this, scratching his shaggy hair vigorously and nodding.
Maybe he'll come back when he realizes he really can't manage alone?
And when that time comes.
‘I'll have to accept him then.’
Muttering such nonsense to himself, the man returned to the group of unaffiliated players he had gathered, unaware of where Seonghyun, who had already disappeared into the crowd, had gone.
3.
The guilds gathered for the Legion of Calamity event.
Among them, the top-ranked guilds numbered about three.
The 4th-ranked guild, Eclipse Order.
The 8th-ranked guild, Tempest Wing.
And the 12th-ranked guild, Sick Brothers.
These three were the only ones present with single-digit or low double-digit guild rankings.
If there was another force that could compare, it would be Echo Willow from the Karma Guilds.
Excluding Echo Willow, who hadn't appeared yet, the representative figures of these three guilds stepped forward.
Junhyuk, who carried the expectations of Sick Brothers' Korean branch.
Kurosawa Ren of Tempest Wing.
And finally, Meiran of Eclipse Order.
As the three gathered, the atmosphere grew tense, almost as if the air itself was heating up.
While the guilds shot glares at each other, and Junhyuk and Kurosawa Ren were also eyeing each other murderously—
“Wahahaha!!! Hey now, it's a fine day, why are you all glaring like that? Isn't it fun? An event like this?”
“...We came here to compete, not to play, Miss Meiran.”
“...‘Compete’ is the right word. We came here to see who will win.”
Kurosawa Ren and Junhyuk spoke sharply to Meiran.
However, Meiran simply looked at the two of them, laughed heartily (Wahah!), and nodded as if it were all just amusing.
As if she didn't care either way.
As Kurosawa Ren and Junhyuk glared, looking slightly fed up with her doing things at her own pace, Meiran spoke again.
“Competition is fun too!! Let's enjoy it! And play fair!”
“...Haaah.”
“...Hoo.”
For this moment at least, the minds of Kurosawa Ren and Junhyuk, rivals who often bickered, were in sync.
She was too cheerful, overflowing with bright energy.
Since she was naturally like that, they couldn't really say anything.
And besides, what she said wasn't exactly wrong.
“Anyway, let's enjoy it! Have fun! Honestly, winning or losing isn't important; what matters is how much fun you have!!!”
“For u... us, winning and losing is important.”
“That's right.”
“Ahaha! So if you're not first place here, everyone else loses? Well, catching a lot is good~ Getting something with contribution points is always nice.”
They simply couldn't get through to her.
As the two gave up trying to talk to her, the boisterous Meiran laughed heartily and said,
“Well, it’s a bit disappointing that the Demon King didn’t show up. It would have been really fun if he had.”
“Hmm, the Demon King...”
“A remarkable figure did emerge from Korea.”
At the mention of the Demon King, Kurosawa Ren's expression darkened while Junhyuk smiled with satisfaction.
Since the Demon King was undeniably a Korean player, it was natural for Junhyuk, being Korean himself, to feel proud.
Kurosawa Ren bit his lip as if finding it somewhat vexing.
But what could he do?
Doing so wouldn't change Seonghyun's affiliation to Japan.
“According to our information, the Luna team he belongs to just reached the level 70s. Wouldn't the Demon King be around that level too?”
“Well, that's fortunate then. Fortunate for you, Kurosawa, that you weren't pushed down to 4th place.”
“Hmph! Look who's talking!”
“Wahahaha! Now, now, let's not be like that! Let's get along!”
As Meiran jumped in again, their motivation instantly deflated.
Among these three, the strongest was, without a doubt, Meiran.
Kurosawa Ren and Junhyuk were only aiming for 2nd place.
They had absolutely no thought of beating Meiran.
The gap in strength was that overwhelming.
For such a powerhouse to talk like that... how could they not feel drained?
“Anyway, the Rapid Guild hasn't even declared their participation.”
“They definitely won't come.”
“Wahaha! It's truly a shame, but it can't be helped! Let's just enjoy ourselves!”
“Hmph.”
“Anyway, is it 10 minutes until the start?”
“Almost time! Well then, everyone get ready, and let's meet later!!! A friendly competition! Let's do our best!”
After stirring things up like that, Meiran was the first to leave.
Feeling somehow drained, Kurosawa Ren and Junhyuk also disappeared back to where their own guilds were gathered.
The event would be starting soon.
As they waited, the 10 minutes passed like an arrow.
Finally, a system message appeared.
[A Large-Scale Event Quest is being generated!]
『Legion of Calamity』
→《Large-Scale Event》
→From now on, the 『Legion of Calamity』 will swarm.
The 『Legion of Calamity』, which slept for a long time, has awakened.
The 『Legion of Calamity』 hates and despises all living beings.
Your contribution points will increase as you defeat the 『Legion of Calamity』.
The contribution point ranking can be checked in real-time anywhere in 『Dune Wild Trail』 by looking up at the sky.
Please stop their endless advance and restore peace to 『Dune Wild Trail』.
→Reward: Experience for defeating the 『Legion of Calamity』, differentiated rewards based on contribution points, 1st Place - Three Legendary Rank rewards, 2nd Place - Three Unique Rank rewards, 3rd Place - Two Unique Rank rewards.
The event had finally begun.
And on the horizon of Dune Wild Trail, something shimmered faintly like a heat haze.
Was it the heat haze shimmering and writhing?
No.
“Guwoooo.”
“Kieeeek!”
“Kyaaaaaa!”
Countless beings who couldn't die.
Beings whose flesh was rotting, or had completely decayed leaving white skeletons, or whose entire bodies had vanished, leaving only souls drifting.
The profane beings had revived and were swarming forward.
The Legion of Calamity surged forward like a tidal wave whose numbers couldn't even be counted.
Although so many users had gathered, seeing the sheer number of the Legion of Calamity, akin to a tidal wave, everyone seemed overwhelmed and couldn't even react.
At that very moment.
Something appeared in the sky.
A burning black sun that obscured the bright sun, dyeing the entire area in darkness.
Darkness descended upon the world, covering everything in black flames.
The black flames ravenously devoured everything, burning the surroundings and filling the world.
As the smell of sulfur and burning ash rose from all around, the black sun and black flames engulfed all light and life.
Had it appeared to lend strength to those profane beings?
Just as everyone's faces showed expressions of being overwhelmed, the ground suddenly turned black, and countless thorns rained down from the sky.
Thwack! Thump! Thwump-thump-thump!
Jet-black Thorns poured down like rain.
All those thorns targeted the Legion of Calamity, not the users, and the creatures struck by them were instantly obliterated.
But that wasn't the end.
The Legion of Calamity tried to push through the jet-black thorns and charge forward.
Mere thorns couldn't possibly stop a tidal wave like that.
However, the jet-black thorns then began to writhe.
They soon absorbed the darkness from the jet-black stained ground, using the Legion of Calamity as nourishment.
Writhe, writhe—!
Soon, the jet-black thorns became stems.
Sharp thorns extended in all directions.
And from somewhere, a fragrant floral scent bloomed fully.
Entranced by the sweet yet deadly floral scent, the Legion of Calamity headed towards the jet-black thorns.
No, towards the vicinity of the flowers that had now bloomed in jet-black.
The fragrant and deadly jet-black flowers, like an all-embracing mother, warmly spread the thorns sprouting from them far and wide, captivating all nearby beings.
Finally, the jet-black flowers that embraced everything, devoured the foolish prey lured towards them.
Kwa-deu-deu-deu-deuk——!
A harsh sound, like something sharp tearing and biting, echoed out, momentarily halting the tidal wave named the Legion of Calamity in its tracks.
The jet-black thorns had blocked the tide, if only briefly, and from the sky descended a person wearing a black robe and a black mask.
“In-insane!!!”
“Ma-masaka!!!”
“Uwaaaaa!!!”
Junhyuk of Sick Brothers couldn't hide his astonishment, while Kurosawa Ren of Tempest Wing stared with an expression of disbelief.
And Meiran's eyes sparkled as she reacted as if someone she'd been waiting for had finally appeared.
There was only one person who could make such an entrance at this moment.
They must have been mistaken to think his level was low.
Or perhaps he had climbed up at an incredible speed during that time.
The three powerhouses quickly realized this fact.
However, everyone except those three was bewildered.
Who on earth is that?
Countless pairs of eyes looked up at him.
The Demon King?
But his level shouldn't be high enough yet?
Even with a high-rank class, is that possible at his current level range?
Above all, the skills the Demon King usually uses emit a teal light.
But the figure seen now was jet-black itself.
Who could it possibly be?
The appearance of another big shot?!
While everyone was astonished, a certain middle-aged man, purely surprised with a naive expression, muttered,
“Ah, that young man from before!?”
To think he was such a big shot...
He was on the verge of collapsing from shock.
An alert pinged for several people.
[Rapid Guild Real-time Live Broadcast Alert]
[Legion of Calamity VS Demon King]
A notification window announcing that the person over there was the Demon King appeared.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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